Princess and Queen crowned for Bay City's 60th Annual St. Patrick's Day Parade

BAY CITY, MI –Moments
after being crowned 2014 St. Patrick's Day Queen, Kaley Jenkins stood calm, collected
and queen-like in a tiara and an emerald green dress at Zion Lutheran School.

"I'm so proud of myself for working this hard," she said. "It's
exciting. Very, very, very exciting."

Her aunt Pam Araoz added a quick word of praise after
Jenkins received the key to Bay City, noting that Bay City pop native Madonna –
one of Jenkins' distant cousins – hasn't won the same accolades as her niece.

"That's my niece Kaley, and she got the key to the city
before her cousin Madonna," she said.

Jenkins confirmed the relation and laughed.

A few minutes before, she accepted top honors at the 2014 St. Patrick's Day Queen and
Princess Pageant, an annual event that determines a queen and princess for
the St. Patrick's Day Parade Association's annual March celebration. The
auditorium at 1707 Kielsel St. was packed with proud parents there to see nine young women compete to be named queen and
princess for the year.

Also recognized at the Saturday, March 1, event was Haley Scott, St. Patrick's Day 2014 Princess, wiping a tear from her eye after officially donning her tiara. An
eighth-grader at Christa McAuliffe Middle School and president of her school's
student council, she said she was nervous on stage.

"It was very nerve wracking, and I thought my best friend Sheridan
would win," she said. "When I got called it was a great feeling to be up there
with all my friends."

The two honorees are set to be featured at the 60th St.
Patrick's Day Parade in Bay City at 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 16. Besides an
opportunity for the spotlight, Linda Weaver, president of the St. Patrick's Day
Parade Association, explained that the pageant is a chance for the young women
participating to build character. It's a character that continues past the parade to events
where the queen, princess and their respective courts will represent the association.

"It's certainly a growing experience," she said.

Also recognized were Brenda Konkle, 1st runner-up in the
queen category, as well as 2nd runner-up Melyssa Secor, who will each receive $250
scholarships. Megan Swanson, Keely Gallagher and Sheridan Gielda were all
honored as princess category runners-up, and receive a $50 cash prize.

Jenkins,
as queen, received a $500 scholarship.

Runners-up constitute the queen's and princess' courts, and
will appear with them at the parade and events throughout the year.

The recognition came after weeks of work stretching back to
mid-January, when five queen contestants – Lindsey Redfern, Melyssa Secor,
Brenda Konkle, Megan Donnelly and Kaley Jenkins — along with four princess
hopefuls — Megan Swanson, Keely Gallagher, Sheridan Gielda and Haley Scott —
first met to practice for the pageant.

Since then, they've been hard at work preparing for a
four-part event: a series of onstage questions, a gown walk and a brief speech.

For princess participants, ages 12 to 15, it's a speech on Irish heritage and
culture, and for queen participants, ages 16 to 19, it's an original Irish
limerick. Participants also had a
15-minute private interview with three judges the morning of the event.

Speaking moments before participants took the stage, event
organizer and 2006 queen Britney Reed noted how well-prepared the participants
were.

"They're so nervous,
but it all falls away once they get out there," Britney Reed said. "They're
exquisite. Their interviews were flawless. They're ready, and I think everyone's
going to enjoy it."

When contestants finished showing off their hard work, Bay
City Mayor Chris Shannon was on hand to present the key to Bay City to the
newly crowned queen. He said it was an honor to be at the pageant, and that he
didn't envy the judges.

"It's a long, proud tradition in Bay City," he said of the
event. "It brings out a group of young leaders that are proud of their heritage
and want to be role models for young women."

A crowd of proud parents were there for their children as
well, including Jody and Jodie Scott, parents of princess Haley Scott, sitting
patiently before the show in shirts with Haley's name.

"We love it, we're proud of her," said Jodie Scott, Haley's
mom. She explained that the shirts were Haley's idea. She agreed with judges,
organizers and participants that the pageant was a chance to recognize
character and confidence.

"She's a very shy girl and it's taken her out of her shell
and given her a lot of confidence," Jodie Scott said. "She becomes part of a
team and gets to meet a lot of new girlfriends."

Moments before the queen was awarded, 2013 queen Kathleen
Gallagher gave a tearful speech thanking her family and 2013 princess Kendall
Perdue for her year spent representing the parade association.

"To the future
queen and her court: take in every single moment of this year," she said. "Never
in my entire life did I ever think I would have the opportunity to represent
our city all over the state of Michigan."

—Sam Easter is a general assignment reporter for The Bay
City Times. He can be reached at seaster@mlive.com.